President Trump lawyer won’t rule out Special Counsel Robert Mueller getting fired

One of President Trump's lawyers on Sunday would not rule out that the special counsel overseeing the Russia criminal investigation could get fired.

On ABC News' "This Week," attorney Jay Sekulow evaded a direct question about whether Trump would promise not to interfere with the probe run by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

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"Look, the President of the United States, as we all know, is a unitary executive," Sekulow said.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller. (Evan Vucci/AP)

"But the President is going to seek the advice of his counsel and inside the government as well as outside. And I'm not going to speculate on what he will or will not do."

He added, "I can't imagine that that issue is going to arise. But that again is an issue that the President with his advisers would discuss if there was a basis."

Since Trump has shown an eagerness to fire officials who oppose him — former FBI Director James Comey being but one example — the rules could give him free rein to boot Mueller. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Mueller, a former FBI director, took over the investigation into the Trump campaign's possible Russia ties in May. He is supposed to be an independent leader on the case, free from political persuasion by Trump or anyone else.

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Federal regulations say a special counsel can be stopped for "any investigative or prosecutorial step" that is "so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued."

Rosenstein would have to report any such action to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, but there is little written that outlines what, exactly, Mueller could be fired for.

“Look, the President of the United States, as we all know, is a unitary executive,” Jay Sekulow said. (Steve Helber/AP)

Since Trump has shown an eagerness to fire officials who oppose him — former FBI Director James Comey being but one example — the rules could give him free rein to boot Mueller.

Ironically, Mueller ended up on the job only because Trump fired Comey — and because U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who ordinarily would have taken over from Comey, had already recused himself because his own Russian relations.